Create a chart or graph

If you're looking for information about how to insert a chart into a site, you can learn more in the Google Sites Help Center.

You can add a variety of charts and graphs into a spreadsheet, including line, bar, and map charts. You can also save a chart as an image and insert these images into a document or presentation. To create a chart or graph, follow these steps:

Note: It helps to label the data in your spreadsheet before creating a chart. For example, if you want to chart your expenses, you might have a row of numbers labeled 'Rent' and another labeled 'Groceries.' Then you might label columns by month or week, etc. These labels will appear automatically in the window where you create and preview your chart, as long as the labels are the first row and column of your selected range of cells.

Note: If you included labels for your data in your spreadsheet, you can specify that you want to use the first row and first column of your data as labels by checking the box next to ‘Use 1st row as labels’ and ‘Use 1st column as labels.’ These settings are automatically selected when you include labels in Row 1 and Column A in your spreadsheet.

From your spreadsheet, select the cells with data you'd like to include in the chart. Alternatively, you can select a range or multiple ranges of data from within the chart editor. You can do so by clicking Select range... and entering one or more ranges by clicking Add another range.

In the Start tab, you’re able to edit the range of cells to be included in your chart, select basic layout settings, and view recommended charts.

If you decide that one of the recommended charts isn’t the right thing for your data or if you want to see more chart options, you can either click More >> or move on to the Charts tab.

Preview your chart and edit as necessary.

Click Insert. The chart appears in your spreadsheet. If you would like to go back to editing your spreadsheet without an inserted chart, click Cancel.

Customize the look and feel of your chart in the Customize tab. Here, you can add a chart title, axis titles and settings, colors to represent the data in your chart, and some additional chart formatting features.

Here’s how to give your chart a unique name or rename a chart:

After you’ve started the process to create a chart, as outlined above, click the Customize tab of the charts dialog box.

Enter a name in the Chart Name text box of the Customize tab. The chart name will show in the upper left corner of your chart when it’s selected in your spreadsheet.

Enter a title in the Chart Title text box of the Customize tab. The chart title will be a label at the top of the chart.

Note: not all chart types will have a chart title, but all chart types have a chart name.

If you are working in the new Google Sheets, you can create a chart using the content of non-adjacent cells. To select multiple cells, click and hold Ctrl on your keyboard (Cmd on a Mac) as you select the cells you want to include in the chart.

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